By: Kay Ledbetter Beth Ann Luedeker Leaves legacy of soil scientists Murray Milford, Ph.D., professor and former associate head for academic programs with the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Texas A&M University, died Aug. 20. Milford retired in 2001 after more than 32 years of service at Texas A&M, but remained in the department as Professor Emeritus. While teaching, he touched the lives of more than 17,000 students in Agronomy 301 and 1,100 graduate students who passed through the department with Milford serving as their graduate… Read More →

Everyone with a lawn has the opportunity to be an environmental steward. This was part of the message presented at the recent Healthy Lawns Healthy Waters program at the Guadalupe Water Conservation District office in Seguin by John Smith, an AgriLife Extension program specialist focused on water quality, Reagan Hejl, a research associate in turfgrass science, and Ward Ling, an AgriLife Extension program specialist in watershed protection. Turfgrass lawns are a resource that can help prevent soil erosion, dissipate heat, filter chemical pollutants, improve surface water quality and… Read More →

By: Kay Ledbetter Contact: John Cason – john.cason@ag.tamu.edu Dr. John Cason has been named Texas A&M AgriLife Research assistant professor for peanut breeding and genetics in Stephenville, where he will supervise the AgriLife Research and Extension Center’s peanut program. Cason holds a doctorate from Texas A&M University in plant breeding, and he brings more than 20 years’ experience in breeding and developing new peanut cultivars. He supervised all phases of greenhouse- and field-level research at the Stephenville center during that time. His research interests focus on development of… Read More →

By: Kay Ledbetter Contact: Dr. Larry Redmon – l-redmon@tamu.edu Growing industrial hemp in Texas is not yet legal in the state of Texas, but that doesn’t mean there is not a rapidly growing amount of interest, questions and calls. In response, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service has formed an Industrial Hemp Education Initiative Team to provide information concerning industrial hemp production in Texas. “It is still not legal to grow hemp in Texas until several steps are taken,” said Dr. Larry Redmon, AgriLife Extension program leader and associate… Read More →

By: Kay Ledbetter Contacts: Dr. Jourdan Bell, 806-677-5600, jourdan.bell@ag.tamu.edu Dr. Jackie Rudd, 806-677-5600, jcrudd@ag.tamu.edu Dr. Calvin Trostle, 806-746-6101, ctrostle@ag.tamu.edu Planted wheat acres were down in 2018-2019 in the Texas Panhandle, but it was still a learning year, according to experts with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and Texas A&M AgriLife Research. It offered a mixed bag of conditions with record wheat yields, waterlogged fields resulting in reduced yields and shriveled, low test weight grain and many fields were either hailed out or severely damaged by hail. “Because… Read More →

By: Kay Ledbetter Sarah Marsh, a senior in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Texas A&M University, is one of 12 students recognized by the National Association of Plant Breeders, or NAPB, in the 2019 class of NAPB Borlaug Scholars. “The NAPB Borlaug Scholarship awards are given to exceptional students aspiring to a careers in plant breeding and genetics and who have a strong desire to contribute to the improvement of the plants that we all depend upon for our daily needs,” according to NAPB. This… Read More →

By: Adam Russell Contact: Vanessa Corriher-Olson, VACorriher@ag.tamu.edu Michelle Sensing, 903-834-6191 A program on the reduction of winter feeding by stockpiling warm-season forage and/or planting cool-season pastures is scheduled for Aug. 16 in Overton. The event is from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center, 1710 N. Farm-to-Market Road 3053. The cost is $60 per person if registered by Aug. 6 and $75 per person if registered by Aug. 14. Fees include lunch and all program materials. Two Texas Department of Agriculture… Read More →

Dr. Lloyd Rooney, Professor Emeritus in the department of Soil and Crop Sciences, passed away, surrounded by family, in his home on June 23, 2018. A rosary will be recited at 6:30 followed by visitation until 8pm, Thursday, June 27, 2019 at St Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church. Funeral Mass will be at 10am, Friday, June 28, 2019, at St. Thomas Catholic Church. Interment will be at 1:30pm, Friday, June 28, 2019 at Mt. Calvary Cemetery. Services are in the care of Callaway-Jones Funeral and Cremation Centers, Bryan-College Station…. Read More →

Five students from Texas A&M University, including two from the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, have been selected to participate in a new mentoring program sponsored by Bayer Crop Science. Karina Morales and Catherine Danmaigona Clement, both doctoral Plant Breeding students, are part of the initial cohort of this program which pairs graduate students and post-docs with Bayer scientists who serve as mentors for the next year. Morales, who is studying genome editing in rice under the supervision of Dr. Michael Thomson, has been paired with Dr…. Read More →